Rights free photos of today’s Captain’s Call at Spotless Stadium are available to download here. Please credit: RugbyAU/Kaz Watson.
Defending champions, the Qantas Australian Men’s and Women’s Sevens sides are both primed for kick-off ahead of the HSBC Sydney 7s on Friday February 1.
The Australian Women will be hoping to re-enact their heroics from 2018 when they became the first team to win a World Series event without conceding a point but have been drawn in a difficult Pool alongside Series contenders USA as well as rising powers China and Spain.
The ticket allocation for ‘Free Friday’ has already been exhausted with the Women’s World Series to take centre stage at Spotless Stadium in Sydney’s Olympic Park precinct.
HSBC Men’s Sevens World Series kick-off the action on Saturday morning with the Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens side drawn in Pool D alongside Argentina, Tonga and Series heavyweights South Africa.
Tickets are still available for Saturday and Sunday with single day passes starting from just $37.
The three-day festival won’t just feature the Rugby action though with plenty of activities for the whole family around the Spotless Stadium precinct including a host of DJs, kid zones as well as food and drink areas.
Headline acts DJ Tigerlily, Tkay Maidza, L-Fresh The Lion and Yolanda Be Cool lead a field of talented musicians and DJs who will be performing across the weekend.
Qantas Australian Women's Sevens co-captain, Sharni Williams said: “We’re definitely hoping for a big crowd at Spotless Stadium. It looks like a really fast field so it would be great to get bums on seats, spread the word to get everyone to rally around us and support us.
“Playing on home soil is absolutely amazing. We don’t get to do it very often so that’s why it’s so important to get people to Spotless to watch us live. We travel the world and play at odd hours of the day and people normally have to set their alarms to see us, so why not get out here and watch it live.
“We want to start 2019 off on a really high note by winning it,” Williams said.
Qantas Australian Men's Sevens captain, Lewis Holland said: “Rugby Sevens crowds always get very pretty vocal and into the atmosphere. There’s plenty of action going on so everyone is always on the edge of their seat and come the weekend I don’t think it will be any different.
“You always hear about the home town advantage, I don’t know how it works but for some reason, some people find a bit more motivation whether you have to run a bit harder or chase something down.
“Things just seem to happen for the home town side so come this weekend - we’re fit and fast - so hopefully that gives us a bit of a tickle to get it done,” Holland said.
For more information, please visit https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series
Tickets for the 2019 HSBC Sydney 7s are available from Ticketek. For further information visit the HSBC Sydney 7s website www.sydney7s.com.au
Great hospitality packages are still available from $99. Visit http://www.rugbyau.com/experience/hospitality for more information.
HSBC Women's Sevens Series: Sydney, 1 - 3 February 2019
Pool A Pool B Pool C
New Zealand Canada Australia
England Russia USA
France Ireland China
Papua New Guinea Fiji Spain
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens fixtures:
Friday 1 February
1.50pm AEDT: Australia v Spain
4.34pm AEDT: Australia v China
6.56pm AEDT: Australia v USA
HSBC Men’s Sevens Series: Sydney, 2 - 3 February 2019
Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
Fiji USA New Zealand South Africa
Samoa Canada Scotland Australia
England Kenya Spain Argentina
Japan France Wales Tonga
Qantas Australian Men's Sevens fixtures:
Saturday 2 February
10.28am AEDT: Australia v Argentina
3.56pm AEDT: Australia v Tonga
8.23pm AEDT: South Africa v Australia
